DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team shot over 50 percent from the field and the three-point line Wednesday night and scored 20 points off of 22 turnovers in an 80-75 win over the Central Michigan Chippewas at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"I thought we came out of the locker room ready to go and that was really important," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "The more we could make [Central Michigan] uncomfortable and steal some possessions that way gave us a better opportunity. That's how we got to 80 points. We took the ball away on the defensive end and shot it well offensively."
 
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led the Huskies with 19 points and a game-high eight assists, adding four rebounds and four steals. She became the fifth NIU women's basketball player in program history to eclipse 400 career assists Wednesday night. Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) tied her season-high in scoring with 18 points.
 
NIU (9-11, 3-6 MAC) used a 13-0 run in the first quarter to take a 16-5 lead with 3:53 to play. The Huskies made six consecutive shots from the field starting with a Blumenfeld jumper and ending with a Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) basket. The Chippewas responded with a 9-2 run to close the quarter, highlighted by four points from Madi Morson, to make the score 18-14.
 
Central Michigan (8-12, 4-5 MAC) closed within two points early in the second quarter, as a pair of Jess Lawson layups made the score 20-18 with 7:32 remaining in the half. Blumenfeld and Koker combined to score nine of the next 12 points to put the Huskies back up by eight, 29-21, at the 4:14 mark of the second. NIU shot 53.3 percent from the field in the quarter and scored the last seven points to take a 14-point lead at halftime, 39-27.
 
The Huskies took their largest lead of the game with 8:08 to play in the third when a Stonebraker three-pointer put NIU up by 17, 46-29. That was NIU's last field goal for almost five minutes. In that time Central Michigan went on a 16-3 run, with 10 points from Lawson and Jayda Mosley combined, to make it a four-point game 49-45 with 3:38 to go in the third. The Huskies got the lead back up to eight in the final minute, but a Morson floater at the buzzer got the Chippewas within six, 58-52, going into the fourth.
 
Central Michigan got as close as two points in the fourth quarter when back-to-back Morson baskets made the score 66-64 with 3:21 remaining in the game. The Huskies took the lead back out to seven points as a Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) three-pointer and a Blumenfeld bucket put the score at 71-64 with 2:19 left. The Chippewas only got as close as four the rest of the way. Koker and McCrea combined to go 7-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 0:33 to get NIU it's first home win in Mid-American Conference play.
 
"I thought we were able to weather the storm and take care of things down the stretch," Carlsen said. "I was proud of our consistent fight tonight. There was no panic from us tonight and that's really important. Any time you can get a MAC win you'll take it."
 
NIU shot 50.9 percent from the field and was 8-for-15 from the three-point arc. Central Michigan shot 44.3 percent but was 5-for-14 from long range. The Chippewas outrebounded NIU 47-22, with 13 second chance points on 19 offensive rebounds. The Huskies had over 20 assists for the second straight game with 21 on 28 made field goals.
 
Morson led all scorers with 26 points. Lawson had a double-double of 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
 
NIU heads to Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 1 p.m. CT showdown against the Bulls. The Huskies are next at the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to face the Kent State Golden Flashes for National Girls and Women in Sports Day. For tickets, log on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
--NIU--